Scientists at the Tel Aviv University in Israel have marked an unbelievable major medical breakthrough with the 3D print of a heart.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the scientists, led by Tal Dvir, made the 3D print of the heart that was unveiled on Monday with human tissues and vessels.
According to Dvir, this is “the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers.
“People have managed to 3D-print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels”.
However, the scientists said many challenges remain before fully working 3D printed hearts will be available for transplant into patients.
Journalists were shown a 3D print of a heart about the size of a cherry at Tel Aviv University on Monday as the researchers announced their findings, published in the journal Advanced Science.
Researchers must now teach the printed hearts “to behave” like real ones. Then they plan to transplant them into animal models, said Dvir.
“Maybe, in 10 years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely,” he said.
But he said hospitals would likely start with simpler organs than hearts.